Smells Like Grunge Again

Originally posted by New York Times@ September 30, 2003Smells Like Grunge Again

By RUTH LA FERLA

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>Scarcely had fashion decreed bourgeois chic the order of the day when a backlash set in. That reaction, as timely as it is unruly, arrives in the unlikely guise of grunge. That much maligned Seattle-born style, popularized by rock legends like Nirvana, has reared its head once more in the shape of lumberjack shirts, jaunty kilts, beat-up sweat shirts, bleached-out jeans and all manner of leggings in worker-bee stripes.

Its arrival coincides with the advent of neo-grunge rockers, and in its earliest incarnations, it has already filtered into fashion's mainstream. Stores like Hot Topic and American Eagle Outfitters chase after teenagers' dollars with work shirts and jeans, meant to be piled on chaotically in the manner of Kurt Cobain, the iconic lead singer of Nirvana. But new interpretations of the style have surfaced in more rarefied quarters as well.

Grunge has been a recurrent theme in fashion since the early 90's, when rockers like Cobain transformed kilts, moth-eaten sweaters and lumberjack plaids into the insignia of yuppie revolt. "Grunge returns whenever fashion is reacting against a more preppy or establishment look," said Andrew Bolton, associate curator of the Costume Institute at the Met. "It's very much an antifashion statement, one that breaks down the notions of what goes with what."

If Cobain thought nothing of pulling a tattered baby-doll dress over jeans, combining a Pendleton shirt with a kilt, or wrapping said shirt at his hips like a skirt, designers are taking a tidier route. Thus Marc Jacobs, who notoriously created a grunge collection for Perry Ellis a decade ago, reintroduced elements of the look in his secondary line. The collection, shown this month during Fashion Week, was built on an amalgam of rainbow-colored layers, a sprightly version of the style that was once embraced by disaffected high schoolers and the protagonists of "Wayne's World."

Like Mr. Jacobs, Jean Touitou, the designer for A.P.C., gave his grunge-inspired fall collection a playful air. Evocatively christened Smells like Seattle, it is full of lumberjack shirts in plaid polyester, beefy cardigans, striped leggings and kilts. Mr. Touitou's decision to resurrect the look was a reaction to "all that cheap glamour," he said, referring to the ubiquity of Manolo-shod editors and their gin-sipping dates posturing archly in the lobby of the Mercer Hotel in SoHo. "I think the world needs a blitzkrieg answer to all that," he said.

Mr. Touitou would likely find compatriots at Utilikilts, a Seattle store and Web site that sells kilts to men from all walks of life, including, lately, a new generation of Cobain wannabes. The look is no less alluring to the Manhattan adolescents now snapping up corduroy jackets with fake fur trim, or plaid flannel shirts, to be layered two at a time over bleached or weathered jeans, at Marsha D.D. on the Upper East Side. "You would think that grunge is an unconscious influence because these kids are too young to remember its source," said Marsha Drogin Dayan, the store's owner. "But now I'm not so sure."

It is doubtful, though, that the movement's latest subscribers have more than a nodding acquaintance with its counterculture roots. "Today the style is romanticized," Mr. Bolton said. "It's more about nostalgia than politics." </span>

London is packed with notoriously sloppy dressers anyway and its more a matter of non-style than a matter of consious style [/b][/quote]
its neither non-style or consious style Lena.....its just something they follow to look like their rock/punk/grunge/metal idol's

Originally posted by HBoogie@Sep 30th, 2003 - 10:46 am Grunge was all greys and navy blues with an occasional red-and-black lumberjack flannel thrown in, definitely not this colorful.

People still layer things, and people are still sloppy, but overall clothes are tighter, the silouhette is MUCH less baggy than it was in the early to mid 90s.

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i disagree. "grunge" was a term made up by the media. there wasnt a signature color palette or silouette to the "grunge" look. there were staples such as layering and flannel like you mentioned, but there was plenty of variety. nirvana never wore baggy clothes. there were many youth subcultures at this time that came after / during "grunge" usually blending in with each other. so i dont agree with saying "grunge" had a particular color pallete and silouette. for example, skate style in the 90's dramaticly changed embracing hip hop adding over sized jeans with graphic t shirts. but baggy was never specifically "grunge" but kids starting meshing styles .... "grunge" to me covered a wide spectrum- riot grrls wore jackie O shades and capri pants, many women in bands considered grunge wore vintage clothes, baby doll dresses , round toe mary janes, baby barrettes [ that rave girls later embraced] sonic youth were considered "grunge" in the 90's they wore retro T's , cords,and other clothes from the 70's and 80's - a style and influence that is heavy in all marc collections. during the nineties i wore many, many retro styles from the 80's and 70's. not just flannel, and chiffon dresses with boots. marc jacobs as a person could be considered very "grunge". just look at him. his fave band is sonic youth. he was the first to put "grunge" on the catwalk with that infamous perry ellis incedent. i dont think "grunge" will ever come back. kurt cobain who is blamed for kick starting this was basically the second coming of punk rock. everythng from his music to attitude was just spitting in conformity's eye. untill it ironically became conformity. "grunge" was much much more than just flannel. it was a big youth culture movement that no longer exists. like punk rock it barged in with fury and died abruptly. after its "demise" other music / fashion styles came about. still different but everything started meshing. the marc line carries the feeling of youth subculture not just what is qoute unquote "grunge" . i feel kim gordon said it best:
" marc jabobs designs american sportswear, except the sport is rocknroll."